Hellboy had never intended to kill the prince; he had just been going to beat him and take the Crown. But when some lady screamed bloody-murder as he brought the spear down, he really stopped. Confused and exasperated, he turned to see why the heck Liz was screeching at him. But Liz was turning around in confusion, too – it hadn't been her. Then Hellboy saw the three men walking through the antechamber. He recognized Wyward and his team – the crying green woman and struggling white kid, however, were a surprise.

When Nuada saw them, he gasped. Hellboy looked sharply back at him in case he tried something stupid. The prince's face had turned a weird shade of grey-white. "Dynala – Liam!" he rasped. It was a good thing Hellboy had turned his attention back to the elf prince – he started to jerk to his feet.

"Uh-uh," Hellboy growled. Crazed gold eyes snapped to him as he pressed the edge of the spear up under Nuada's jaw. "You just stay down."

"Not bad, Hellboy," Wyward complimented as he and his men came closer, fighting to keep the woman and boy from running to Nuada. He grunted as he hauled the woman back to him and sharply hissed into her ear. "If you move again, I swear, you'll regret it." Hellboy frowned – he had never liked Wyward, and his impression of him wasn't exactly improving.

Nuada twitched under the spear. Hellboy made a sound of warning; the prince ignored him, but at least he stayed put. Nuada's voice was searing with fury when he addressed Wyward. "Do not dare touch her!"

Wyward kept talking to Hellboy like Nuada hadn't spoken at all. "I'll admit, I was thinking that I was going to have to save you down here," he confessed lightly, "so I figured I'd bring – what did he say their names were? – Dynala and Liam along." Wyward grinned and gave the green elf woman a shake. "Meet Mrs. Nuada and Nuada, Jr."

Hellboy blinked and looked back down at Nuada, who looked like someone was slowly burning him alive. He was breathing hard, and he couldn't look away from his wife and son. "Are you hurt?" he asked them lowly. Hellboy felt a twinge of guilt; he hadn't known that this guy had a family – this was the first time Hellboy had ever heard fear in Nuada's voice.

Up on the dais, Nuala felt her stomach twisting in horror. A wife? A son? She had not known….. Nuada had never told her. As she remembered the final moments of her father's life, the ferocity and desperation in her brother's voice as he had asserted, "We will not fade!" was suddenly explained. His bitter words to her earlier also made sense now – "My reasons for happiness have been stolen from me." He had spoken literally; his family had been kidnapped. So here was why Nuada fought so fiercely…

Abe stepped toward Wyward, uncharacteristically angry. "This is out of line!" he snapped. "Release them!"

Wyward smiled – if you could call it a smile. "Not just yet, Fish-stick." He looked back at Hellboy, a frown beginning to form on his face. "Well?" he prompted. "Kill him, already!"

"No!" The woman – Dynala, Hellboy remembered – gasped, her reddish-brown eyes wide and pleading. "Please," she begged, "Please, do not hurt –"

Wyward cut her off mid-sentence – the back of his hand cracked loudly against her cheek as he viciously slapped her. Her head jerked sideways. The kid just about had a conniption fit, thrashing to get free and cursing Wyward to the seventh circle of Hell. A strangled roar from Nuada alerted Hellboy at the last second that things were about to hit the fan; he accidentally opened a long, deep cut on the prince's neck when Nuada tried to get up. That wouldn't have stopped Nuada – Hellboy had to plant his foot in the elf's chest and shove him back down. "Easy!" Hellboy barked. "I don't want to cut your throat in front of your kid!" At Nuada's wild, enraged, desperate look, Hellboy said, so quietly that only Nuada could hear him, "I'm not on his side – I'm working on it."

Scowling, Hellboy turned back to Wyland. "I can't kill him without killing her," he explained through gritted teeth, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Nuala. Normally, he would not have been so diplomatic; but Wyward was one sick puppy, and Hellboy knew that one wrong word could get the kid's brains splattered on the floor. Maybe the BRPD should look into a more rigorous psych evaluation before it hired people…..

Wyward was starting to sense Hellboy's resistance; his eyes narrowed. "I would ask what the problem with that is, but I guess you don't wanna kill Blue Boy's crush. Fine – she's been helping us, anyway, I guess." His eyes traveled down to Nuada. "So it's up to you, Elf-Man," he said calmly. His easy-going tone didn't soothe Hellboy – he knew Wyward well enough to know that he was at his most dangerous when he sounded calm. "Evans?" At the command, the man holding Liam – the only one who could have given Wyward a run for his money in the "raving lunatic" category – pulled out his Glock and pressed the barrel to the boy's temple. Dynala started shrieking and twisting like crazy, trying to get to her son.

"No – Wyward, don't!" Abe protested, fear in his voice.

"What are you doing?" Liz demanded, her eyes huge. "Cut it out!"

"Stop!" This shrill, terrified cry came from Nuala on the dais. Hellboy heard her running toward them. "Abraham, stop them!"

"Man," Hellboy growled, rage building in him like fire, "I swear, I'll let Nuada up and he'll kill you faster than you can say 'crazy'."

"Nobody move," Wyward directed; and everyone froze. "Give up the Crown," he continued, "or I'll be painting the walls red, got it?"

Most of Hellboy's attention was fixed in horror on the scene before him, but he was pretty sure that Nuada wasn't breathing.

"No!" Wait – had Hellboy heard that right? Had the kid just said that? "Don't!" the boy insisted. Yep, he'd heard right. Liam's chest was heaving, and his eyes were huge, but he persisted, speaking to his father. "For the Fae, Father – I am not afraid."

Nuada's face twisted in pure agony. Even though he had been searching for the Crown for years, even though he had fought and killed for it, he didn't even hesitate. His hand went up to the Crown; he took it off and flung it toward Wyward. But Liam had said the exact wrong thing because the only thing Wyward loved more than killing was making people afraid. In Hellboy's opinion, Wyward had never been sane, per se; but now he snapped for real. "Aren't afraid?" he repeated in a snarl. He tossed the screaming Dynala into the third guy's hands and stalked toward Liam. "I'll fix that," he promised.

And he wrapped one meaty hand around the kid's throat and started to squeeze.

Everybody moved at once. Hellboy instinctively reached for his gun, as did Liz; as soon as Hellboy's attention was diverted, Nuada rolled away from the spear and started running toward his son, drawing a dagger from his belt, impending death in every line of his body. Abe and Johann, too, leaped forward to stop the homicidal maniac.

But nobody made it past that first stage of motion. The air suddenly became thick, heavy, and stagnant; it weighed them all down and pushed everyone to the floor. Words spoken in a language Hellboy didn't understand rang and shivered in the air like a note procured from a struck tuning fork. Trying to breathe past the weight on his chest, Hellboy looked for the source.

Dynala was the only one left standing, so he guessed it was her. When he looked closer at her, all doubt was removed. The expression on her face as her mouth formed the words truly frightened him, and that was saying something. Her eyes burned, literally, like coals. Her lips, which, to be honest, had seemed pretty, were twisted over her teeth in an insane snarl. Hellboy could practically feel the hate rolling off her in waves, crawling under her skin like a living thing, seething into reality through the black words she spoke. It's a curse, he realized. No wonder people in the old days were terrified of Faeries – when you piss 'em off, they're unstoppable forces of freaking nature.

And then someone started screaming. Before he even saw who it was, Hellboy knew that it was Wyward. He was writhing on the floor, his hands clawing at his face as black, burnt blood streamed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. The charred smell filled the air and almost made Hellboy sick. From the corner of his eye, he saw Nuala cover her ears and puke. She was quaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm, and Hellboy didn't blame her – it was bad enough just hearing Dynala's hex; he could only imagine what it would be like if he, like Nuala, could understand exactly she was saying.

Only when Wyward had stopped twitching did Dynala let the echoing words fade into silence. The atmosphere returned to normal; everyone sucked in a deep, relieved breath. Nuada was the first one on his feet – with one arm, he scooped up his son; with the other hand he grabbed Dynala and hauled her away from the gasping humans at her feet, pausing to stab the man who had been holding her when the idiot tried to grip Dynala's ankle to stop her. Liz was the second one up, crawling toward the discarded Crown, snatching it, and melting it.

The third one to move was Evans, the guy who had held the kid at gunpoint. He staggered upright, his eyes trained on Nuada's back as the prince rushed toward the entrance to the chamber, hustling his family out of there. Evans picked up his gun and aimed it right at Nuada's back.

Hellboy was a bad shot – a really bad shot. So this was probably not going to work. But he was going to try anyway. Please, God, don't let me miss, he prayed as he drew the Samaritan and pointed it at Evans's head. He pulled the trigger – and watched as Evans's head exploded into a mass of stuff he didn't really want to think about. Huh, he thought toward heaven. Thanks for that one.

Nuada spun around at the gunshot, flinging his arms out and back to shove Dynala and Liam behind him – trying to take the bullet that hadn't been shot at him. Trying to protect his family. The elf's gold eyes flashed to Hellboy's raised gun, then to Evans's dead body, then back to Hellboy. Nuada wasn't stupid – he could guess what had happened. "Thank you," he said.

Dynala's arms wrapped around Nuada from behind and she buried her face against his back. Nuada's eyes kind of closed; he rested his hand over hers. "Please," Dynala whispered, her voice shaking. "Nuada, I must rest, just for a moment – I –" she stopped, and when she continued, she sounded a little surprised. "I think I am going to faint," she noted observationally.

That got Nuada's attention. His eyes snapped open and he spun around just in time to catch her as her knees gave out; but she stayed conscious. He carefully lowered her to the floor, asking worried questions the entire time. "Are you hurt? Are you ill? What happened?"

Abe darted to Nuada's side only to be greeted by a near stabbing; only Dynala's weakly protesting hand on Nuada's arm saved Abe's life. "He is a friend," she explained, putting her hand to her forehead like she was dizzy.

Nuada slowly lowered his knife. "Friend or no," he cautioned dangerously, "I will kill you if you touch her." His arms curled around her protectively as he spoke, tucking her into his chest.

"Hey," Hellboy called. "We don't have a problem with you. The Crown's gone – our job is done." A little more seriously, he added, "We won't hurt her – or your son."

Abe still hadn't looked away from Dynala. "She has not eaten since she was taken," he explained, concerned. "Wyward wouldn't give her food without chemicals in it; she couldn't eat it because it would have hurt the babies."

Nuada's face had been twisting in rage about the whole starvation thing, but at that little slip of Abe's tongue, his face went slack with shock. Liam, who had been hovering worriedly by his parents, jumped, his jaw dropping. Nuada looked questioningly into Dynala's eyes; she just nodded and caressed his face. Nuada embraced her tightly, reaching out to gather his son into the hug as well. Nuada's face was pressed into their hair, but Hellboy could still hear him whispering in a weird language. "Tá grá agam ort," Nuada said, over and over again. Hellboy didn't speak Gaelic, but he could hear the choking emotion in Nuada's voice; he could hazard a guess.

Nuala ghosted up beside Hellboy, tears streaming down her face. "He says, 'I love you'," she breathed, confirming Hellboy's suspicion. She floated over to stand near her brother.

Liz slid her arms around Hellboy; he hugged her snugly against him. Abe silently took Nuala's hand – only to let go very quickly when Nuada looked up at Nuala. "Sister," he whispered. "Forgive me for withholding your nephew and sister-in-law from you. This is Lady Dynala of the Greenwood, my wife. This is Liam, my son." Nuada looked at Liam, who was staring at Nuala with something akin to awe on his face. "Liam, this is my twin sister and your aunt, Nuala."

Liam blushed a little and bowed – or bowed as much as he could, considering that he was already kneeling on the floor. "I am honored, Aunt."

Nuala reached down and lifted his chin. "You conducted yourself with valor and honor," she praised him, deepening his blush. "It is I who am honored, Nephew."

Liam grinned broadly. For a few seconds, there was silence as everyone basked in the happiness.

Then, "Vell?" Johann said suddenly, "Vhat now?"

Hellboy could have sworn that Nuada was bipolar, his mood changed so quickly; his head snapped up, and his eyes were blazing with fury. "Your bureau kidnapped my innocent wife and son," he snarled. "The only reason I have not killed you is that the demon saved my life. This place is of the Fae; you will leave now."

"Hey, none of us – except Abe, I guess – knew about Dynala or Liam until a few minutes ago," Hellboy protested. "And there's no way Abe was a part of the actual kidnapping. To be perfectly honest, after all of this I'm debating whether the BRPD is a good place for me to be."

"As am I," Johann put in.

"And me," Liz added.

"I would have to agree, as well," Abe admitted.

Their declarations didn't have much effect on Nuada. "What makes you think I care a whit about –" he started to acerbically demand.

"Actually," Dynala surprised them all by cutting in, "if they are telling the truth, we might be able to use them." A wicked little glint appeared in her eyes, and suddenly she looked very fey indeed. "I have an idea."

Nuada's brows drew downward in a frown. "And what exactly are you planning?" he inquired. He sounded cautious.

A slow grin spread across Dynala's face. "I think the time has come to call in a favor."